Reversible boat.



.T. H. GASKIN.

REVERSIBLE BOAT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 11. 1912.

Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

3 mm mm E ATTORNEYS T. H. GASKiN.

REVERSIBLE BOAT.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17, 1917.

1,241,367Q Patented Sept. 25,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FFTQE.

THOMAS HERBERT GASKIN, OF WOODFORD, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE G. L. B.

SYNDICATE LIMITED, 015 LONDON, ENGLAND.

REVERSIBLE BOAT.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS HERBERT Gasxm, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of WVellington Villa, Grove Road, Woodford, in the county of Essex, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reversible Boats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to reversible boat-s or rafts adapted for being carried on shipboard and capable of being used in place of the ordinary non-reversible life-boats with which ocean-going vessels are as a rule provided. It has been proposed to construct such a reversible boat with a buoyancychamber extending horizontally around the boat throughout the whole or the greater part of its periphery; adeck or decks serving to divide the structure into approximately equal and similar halves (upper and lower) each of which, when turned uppermost, presents an open well with thwarts and other fittings so as to be capable of serving for the accommodation of passengers, and means for permitting the escape of the air which would otherwise be imprisoned beneath the deck when the boat is afloat. Where, however, two decks have been provided, the effective area of each has been much reduced and encumbered by the fact of the boat being fitted with a cylindrical (or similarly-shaped) air-chamber which, extending centrally throughout the length of the boat, had a diameter sulficient to occupy substantially the whole depth between the upper and lower thwarts, the width of this air-chamber being such as to leave space for only a narrow strip of deck at each side.

In the improved reversible boat of the present invention, which has two separate decks, each deck occupies the entire area of the corresponding well of the boat and is wholly unencumbered; while both the peripheral buoyancy-chamber, and also the supplementary buoyancy-chamber constituted by the space between the decks, serve to'accommodate a series of hermeticallysealed air-tanks which are independent of the structure of the boat so that the buoyancy of the boat is rendered independent of the buoyancy-chambers remaining sealed against the ingress of water.

Through the space between the decks ex- Specification of Letters Patent.

tend, from side to side of the boat, a series of cross-beams which intersect a central longitudinal beam or keelson extending be tween the stem-post and stern-post, the cross-beams and keelson respectively serving to strengthen the structure against lateral crushing and longitudinal bending.

The decks are fixed at such a vertical distance apart that whichever deck happens to be uppermost will, when the boat is afloat and fully loaded, be above the normal surface-level of the water while the lower or inverted deck may be below that level. Escape of air from beneath the (for the time being) lower deck, when the boat is afloat, is permitted by means of a vent-tube or tubes each of which connects together openings in the respective decks; each tube being preferably provided with a valve and means for controlling the same by hand from either deck.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one form of the invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the boat, in section on line 22 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the boat. Fig. 3 is a midship cross-section of the boat, drawn to a larger scale.

The upper and lower halves of the boat, which is shown as built of timber, are identical, and are symmetrical with one another with reference to the central longitudinal beam orkeelson 11 which extends from end to end of the boat between the stem-post 12 and stern-post 13. The keelson 11 is intersected by a series of cross-beams l l which extend from side to side of the framework of the boat, 15 being a longitudinal rubbing-strake at the level of the crossbeams 14:- i The peripheral buoyancy chamber 16 is Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

Application filed April 17, 1917. Serial No. 162,762.

in twolateral sections which extend, inside the outer planking or skin 17 at eachside of the boat, between transverse bulkheads 18 and 19 which are supported by cross-beams 14* near the stem and stern respectively.

The top and bottom ofthe buoyancy-chamsection of the chamber 16, and each of these sections communicates, by way of openings (indicated at 27 at its opposite ends in the bulkheads 18' and '19" respectively, with the bow and stern end-compartments28 and 29 beyond said bulkheads. The compartments 28 and 29, which are closed at top and bottom by continuations 80 of the planking 20, thus constitute drainage-sumps for the boatas a whole, and are furnished with pumps, indicated at 81 (Fig. 2), which are adapted to 'be'worked from whichever side of the boat happens to be uppermost. Sheet-metal watertight containers for holding food, water or other stores may be placed in the end-compartments 28 and 29, as indicated at 82, provision being made for gaining access to the containers 82 through that planking 80 which is uppermost.

The decks 28, 28 which are placed respectively above and below the median horizontal plane (of the boat as a whole) at such a distance apart that whichever deck happens to be uppermost will, when the boat is afloat and fully loaded,be above the normal surface level of the water while the lower deck ma 1 be below that level. Both decks preferab y slope as shown so as to approach one another from each end toward the center; and as, in such case, the space beneath the (for the time being) lower deck will be, highest toward the center of length of the boat, the necessary air-vent tubes are placed at 'or near the center of the deck area. In the example illustrated, an assemblage of four such vent-tubes are shown at 88 each tube connecting together openings provided in the respective decks. The ends of each tube are guarded by gratings, which may be combined with hit-and-miss valves (not shown) provided with means for controlling them by hand from either deck so that when, onthe b'oatbein'g set afloat, all the air beneath thelower deck has been allowed to escape, thejvalves may be shut and locked to prevent any risk of an upward surge of water escaping from the upper ends of the tubes and flooding the upper deck when the boat is in a seaway. In cases wh'erethe decks are level, the vent-tubes would preferabl'y be placed toward the ends of the eck-a Both 's'ecti'onsof the peripheral buoyancy"- chamber 16, and also the supplementary buoyan'cy space'26 between the decks '28, are fitted with a series of hermetically-sealed air tanks formed of'sheet-metal, so that the buoyancy of the'boat as a whole is inclependent of the chamber 16 and space 26 remaining sealed against the ingress of water. Each air-tank 84 in the chamber 16 extends approximately throughout the depth and width of the chamber and lengthwise between two adjacent cross-beams 14, while each air-tank 85 in the space 26 extends approximately throughout the depth of said space, laterally between the keelson 11 and the chamber 16 at the corresponding'side ofthe boat, and lengthwise between two-adjacent cross-beams 14. In approximately the same transverse planes as the several crossbeams 14 each half of the boat is provided with thwarts 86 at the level of the longitudinal side seats 20, a pair of thwarts 86 extendingacross the respective open wells of the boat immediately above and below each cross-beam 14, and each air-tank 84 and 85 is made of such shape and dimen-, sions as to be capable of insertion and removal when the corresponding portion of the seat 20, or of the deck 28 (as the case may be) has been displaced, but without disturbing the thwarts or main framework of the boat.

The middle thwart in each half of the boat is shown as combined with a transverse trunk 87. which connects together the respec tive lateral sections. of. the chamber 16 at such a level (in the lower half of the boat) as to facilitate the drainage of whichever section of said chamber'happens to be at the higher level when the boat rocks or has a permanent list. I

88 are hooks fastened to the keelson 11 near its ends ineach half of the boat, for the attachment of the usual slings or tackles when the boat is to be lowered into or lifted from thcwaterf I Provision is made as at 89; forrowlocks, and, as the boat has no keel, steering is pref-- erably effected by means of an oar working on a rowlock 40 at the stern (instead of by a rudder) when the boat is navigated under sail, an eye 41 for the stepping of a mast being provided on one of the thwarts in each half of the boat. I

The end-compartments 28 and 29Inay ,be fitted with air-tanks substantially similar to those 84 in the chamber 16. I It will be obvious that these compartments, instead of being of such .shape that the boat presents rounded'ends as shown, might be rectangular in plan view. Or the end-compartments might be omitted and the boat mightterminate at each end at a transverse watertight bulkhead corresponding in position with the bulkheads 18 and 19. t

It has been stated abovethat the employment of 'theassemblageof air-tanks is directed to rendering the buoyancy of the boat independent of the peripheral buoyancy-chamber and supplementary buoyancy-space remaining sealed against the ingress of water, and it will be evident that, in some circumstances, it may be found convenient to dispense with the buoyancy resulting from complete exclusion of water from said buoyancy-chamber and supplementary buoyancy-space, and to rely solely on the buoyancy due to the presence of the air-tanks. Hence it will be seen that the outer skin of the boat might be replaced by an open framework serving chiefly for bold ing together the assemblage of airtanks, the decks and the sides of each well of the boat being alone of watertight construction. In such case the structure as a whole would resemble in character, and might be described as constituting, a reversible raft or pontoon.

WVhat I claim is 1. In a reversible boat of the kind referred to, the combination with a peripheral buoyancy chamber whereof the depth is substantially equal to the total depth of the structure, of two decks separated by an interspace and each occupying substantially the entire area of the corresponding well of the boat, and a series of hermetically-sealed air-tanks independent of the structure of the boat housed within the peripheral buoyancy chamber and the interspace between the decks.

2. In a reversible boat of the kind referred to, the combination with a peripheral buoyancy chamber whereof the depth is substantially equal to the total depth of the structure, of two decks separated by an interspace and each occupying substantially the entire area of the corresponding well of the boat, a series of hermetically-sealed airtanks independent of the structure of the boat housed within the peripheral buoyancy chamber and the interspace between the decks, a series of cross beams extending from side to side of the frame of the boat through the peripheral buoyancy chamber and the interspace between the decks, and a central longitudinal beam extending between the stern port and stern-post and intersecting said cross beams.

3. In a reversible boat of the kind referred to, the combination with a peripheral buoyancy chamber whereof the depth is substantially equal to the total depth of the structure, of two decks separated by an interspace and each occupying substantially the entire area of the corresponding well of the boat, a series of hermetically-sealed airtanks independent of the structure of the boat housed within the peripheral buoyancy chamber and the interspace between the decks, and a vent tube connecting together openings in the respective decks.

Dated this 21st day of March, 1917.

THOMAS HERBERT GASKIN.

fi nies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington. D. G 

